Given Me Ways to Cope With the Stress

This year has brought back a health condition that turned my life around over eight years ago. I had a pituitary tumor removed back in 2011 after three years of symptoms that could not be put together. I started having problems with vertigo and finally went to an ENT. After much testing they determined that there might be a small disturbance in my right ear causing the balance issue. They tried many medications but nothing seemed to work. I learned to live with the dizziness. As the years went by it became worse. I kept going to the ENT as he tried to figure this out. During the three years I gained weight, became diabetic, and had other health issues. The ENT sent me to a neurologist, who did a physical exam and stated "you have a brain tumor". I was sent to an immediate MRI and back to his office. There it was! I was scared, but happy that finally a reason for the dizziness had been found. I was tired of bouncing off of walls, falling backwards without warning, and having to be driven everywhere. Unfortunately, the neurologist and neurosurgeon were quick to point out that pituitary tumors do not cause dizziness. I was crushed. I guess I am just a different kind of person. As I woke up and recovered from the removal of the tumor my dizziness was gone! It was a surprise to everyone, it should not be so, but it was. At the end of 2018 I turned to my husband and said, 'My tumor is back". I got to thinking about the falls I had been having, increasing dizziness, inability to keep my eyes open when riding in a car. It was getting worse, and I had begun not driving, and missing some days of work. I went to a neurologist for another issue, and since he was getting an MRI to look for something else, he did the pituitary as well. I was correct, the tumor was coming back. Of course, I was told that this does not cause dizziness however. I was sent to an endocrinologist so the testing could be done to see if the tumor was affecting the excretion of hormones. While meeting with me of course, he said...but this doesn't cause dizziness. Off to the ENT I was next sent to do testing on the balance centers of the brain because.....this tumor doesn't cause dizziness. The testing from the ENT shows that the balance centers of the brain are operating as they should. The different classes from Choose well have helped me in this journey. They have given me ways to cope with the stress of going through this journey again, helping me to focus, not get angry, and helping me with the depression I feel myself slipping into as I have independence and exercise that I love taken away. I have a better outlook as I face a set of new physicians that understandably are questioning this symptom that should not be there but obviously is there. I am glad to say that they are interested in following through this, as I am an anomaly. I feel that Choose well has given me more patience while being a patient. Choose well has also helped me realize that while I can't do the exercise I love, the active outdoor things I love like biking and pickleball, there are other types of activities that I can partake in, even when the dizziness keeps me in a chair. I will continue to work through the issue, and will continue to search through Choose well to see what other ideas I can find for both my physical and mental health until the tumor is again big enough that it is causing other issues that warrant removing it again.